1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a Coriolis mass flowmeter with at least one sensor arrangement and at least one housing, wherein the sensor arrangement includes at least one measuring tube, at least one oscillation generator and at least one oscillation sensor, and wherein the measuring tube can be excited by the oscillation generator in at least one operating frequency.
2. Description of Related Art
Coriolis mass flowmeters of the above-mentioned type are known, for example, from German Patent Application DE 10 2008 007 742 A1. In Coriolis mass flowmeters in general, the measuring tube that can have flow from a medium is excited to oscillation by an oscillation generator, preferably in a certain eigenform in resonance frequency—operating frequency, wherein the operating frequency is adapted to the measuring tube together with the medium flowing through the measuring tube. On the input and output sides, inertial forces act differently on the flowing medium in the measuring tube excited to oscillation, and thus, on the measuring tube, so that the deflection of the measuring tube is influenced differently on the input and output sides, and in this manner, the oscillation of the measuring tube detected on the input and output sides with oscillation sensors has a phase shift, which is a direct variable for the mass flow of interest. The derived variable to be detected—the mass flow—is determined using the phase shift by the evaluation electronics.
Depending on the mass flow to be detected, Coriolis mass flowmeters are available with different cross-sections, wherein the size of the measuring device increases overall with an increasing tube cross-section. In order to guarantee sufficient stability of the housing, in particular large housings, so that possible oscillations of the housing during operation do not have negative effects on the quality of the measurement, housings of such Coriolis mass flowmeters are designed with appropriately thick walls. This thick-walled construction is particularly positive in terms of stability, but, as noted by the present inventors, causes the measuring device to become unexpectedly heavier and more expensive to produce that necessary.